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Full Charter

Mission

The Virginia Tech Information Technology Council fosters trusted and transparent partnerships with university leadership, functional areas, service providers, and IT Professionals across the university. These partnerships inform and enable effective technology decisions to shape IT governance, align strategic priorities, drive meaningful outcomes, and promote shared accountability through active collaboration. 1

Membership

The membership of the Council consists of the IT Directors of major units within the university, generally defined by the membership of the President's council, including one representative from the Vice President for Information Technology (VPIT) and CIO. The VPIT/CIO representative is an ex-officio member. The areas with representation on the Council are listed below.

27 areas will be represented by the VT Information Technology Council:

  • Athletics
  • College of Agriculture and Life Sciences
  • College of Architecture and Urban Studies
  • College of Business
  • College of Engineering
  • College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences
  • College of Natural Resources
  • College of Science
  • College of Veterinary Medicine
  • Dean of Library
  • Virginia Tech Foundation
  • Graduate School
  • Institute for Critical Technology and Applied Science
  • Office of the President
  • Virginia Bioinformatics Institute
  • VP for IT and Chief Information Officer (ex officio)
  • VP and Executive Director, National Capital Region
  • VP and Provost
  • VP for Administration
  • VP for Alumni Relations
  • VP for Development and University Relations
  • VP for Finance and Chief Financial Officer
  • VP for Outreach and International Affairs
  • VP for Research
  • VP for Student Affairs
  • Virginia Tech Carilion Research Institute
  • Virginia Tech Transportation Institute

Attendance

ITC members represent critical business and academic areas of the university. It is expected that members make every effort to attend all Council meetings. Since 100% attendance may be an unreasonable expectation, members may appoint someone from their unit to attend in their absence, though these will attend in an ex officio capacity; they may attend and participate in discussion but neither vote nor count toward quorum. Members may delegate their vote to through the Chair or Vice Chair.

Meetings

The Council typically meets monthly on the 3rd Thursday of each month from 2:00 to 4:30 p.m. The Council may change dates and times or create additional meetings as the need arises. The VPIT/CIO has invited the Council to meet with the CIO Line Managers 3 times per year (fall semester, spring semester, summer). These meetings will be in lieu of the regular meeting for that month and will be scheduled to coincide with the CIO Line Managers' regular meeting. 

Officers

To aid in the efficiency of operations, the Council shall have an officer board consisting of the following officers:

  • Chair
  • Vice Chair

Officers will be selected through the following process:

  1. Nominations for Chair and Vice Chair will be solicited from the Council members during the month of December and/or during the December meeting.
  2. Nominees will be elected by majority vote of the Council membership.
  3. Should any officer position become vacant through the year, the Council will elect a member to fulfill this role.

Terms. Each elected office shall be  a 1 year term. The Chair may not be re-elected to any officer position for a period of one year.

Roles. The Chair will be responsible for moderating Council meetings, setting and distributing agendas, scheduling meeting dates and locations, and generally being the liaison between the Council and the university community. The Chair is empowered to act on behalf of the Council on administrative and operational matters when necessary. The Vice Chair will assume the roles of the Chair when needed. It is expected that the Chair and Vice Chair work cooperatively and with engagement of the Council.

Operating year. The Council operates on a calendar year of January - December. New officer elections will take place in December with officers assuming their new roles in January.

Quorum. Quorum is only needed for motions, elections, and similar official functions. A quorum shall be 1/2 of the membership + 1 (14).

Working groups

It is expected that the Council will regularly create working groups for various purposes. With the exception of the "œStructure and Polity" group, these working groups shall be considered ad hoc, though they may persist as long as there is activity and interest.

"Structure and Polity" - This group is charged with maintaining, reviewing, and revising how the group is structured and organized. This group shall have a minimum of five members including current Chair and Vice Chair and is open to any Council member. This working group will be the custodians of the Council-™s charter and any documentation regarding the organization and structure of the Council. Major revisions to these documents will be submitted to the Council for approval, but the working group shall have the discretion of defining what constitutes a "major" revision. Any non-Council members participating in the Structure and Polity working group shall be ex officio.

Ad Hoc Working Groups - Working groups may be created with a minimum of 3 council members expressing interest and willingness to participate in the working group. Ad hoc groups may also be created at the request of central IT (VPIT/CIO). Working groups shall maintain a page on the Council's Confluence wiki space with a description of the group and shall maintain working group notes, minutes, etc., on this page. All working groups shall be open to any Council member. Unless specifically defined otherwise by the Council, ad hoc working group membership shall be open to any member of the VT community, though only Council members shall count toward the three seats required for existence.

Working groups are expected to report their work and activities to the Council. Any working group that does not report to the Council at least every six months will be considered dormant and will be decommissioned. Decommissioned working groups can be reinstated in the same manner as being created (i.e. by having three or more interested members). Working groups that are decommissioned will become archived in Confluence for the historical record.

Parliamentary Procedure

It is recognized that this group is primarily charged with discussion and collaboration. As such, most of the group's meetings will be governed by the informal rules of social decorum, with the Chair arbitrating discussion as warranted. There may be times when the group wishes to declare a more formal statement or the discussion may benefit from procedural guidance, for example: a decision regarding the structure of the group; a resolution pertaining to University practice or policy; a requested recommendation among competing options on IT projects. Parliamentary procedure is recognized as an efficient means to ensure the smooth functioning of meetings in these contexts. At such times, the Council will employ more formal parliamentary procedures to ensure that there is adequate and fair discussion of the matter at hand. The Chair shall have the discretion to invoke parliamentary procedures as it is deemed warranted, or ad hoc motions or procedures may be considered from the floor as needed. Members of the Council may advise the chair in matters of standard parliamentary practice.

Changes to the Charter

Any council member may propose changes to the charter. Proposed changes are reviewed by the Structure and Polity group and then approved by a majority of present members.

 

Log of Changes

1 On May 6, 2024, With a vote of 19 yes, 0 no, and 0 abstain, the motion to adopt new text as the IT Council Mission Statement carried. It was revised from "The mission of the Virginia Tech IT Council (ITC or "œthe Council") is to: provide a forum for communication and collaboration among Virginia Tech's IT leadership across colleges, institutes, departments, and central technology units; develop and enhance technology utilization and infrastructure of Virginia Tech; serve as a sounding board and resource for large scale information technology projects and discussions." to "The Virginia Tech Information Technology Council fosters trusted and transparent partnerships with university leadership, functional areas, service providers, and IT Professionals across the university. These partnerships inform and enable effective technology decisions to shape IT governance, align strategic priorities, drive meaningful outcomes, and promote shared accountability through active collaboration."